Halfway Through the Wood
by katierosefun
Summary: When Hiro Hamada was ten years old, he got lost in the woods. Only back then, Tadashi found him. Nearly eight years later, Hiro's stuck in the same situation.


Hello, everyone! Katierosefun aka Caroline here! It's been a while since I've last written a _Big Hero 6_ story, but after watching _Into the Woods_ (and listening to the _Finale/Children Will Listen_ ), I was inspired. There's this one set of lyric in _Finale/Children Will Listen_ in which it's said, "Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood - do not let it grieve you; no one leaves for good." And so...this story was made!

Enjoy!

* * *

 ** _Halfway Through the Wood_**

Hiro Hamada personally liked the city. He didn't mind the constant noise outside, nor did he dislike the kind of people who lived here. If anything, he found that those things made San Fransokyo that more unique. The noise was what kept the city alive – the people was what made the city feel like a home. Hiro _knew_ the city that way. He knew it like it was the back of his hand.

He did _not_ , however, know the woods.

He blamed it wholeheartedly on the fact that it was because he grew up in an urban setting for his whole life. He had only been in the woods a few times, and those were usually for school fieldtrips. (And those were always awful. The older, bigger kids would get a kick out of trying to leave Hiro behind. Of course, Hiro was smart enough to figure it all out – and he always managed to catch up on time, but there were several occasions when there had to be a search party sent after him. Which was humiliating.)

Only now, Hiro wasn't lost because some bullies decided to ditch him.

He was lost because he had decided to.

It wasn't his fault. It _wasn't_. He had thought it'd be a good idea to walk into one of the new parks of San Fransokyo – and his friends had, too.

"It'll be fun! We can have a picnic!" Honey Lemon had enthused. "And the weather's warm now – it's supposed to get cooler later, so we might as well enjoy what we have now!" She even managed to persuade Gogo and Wasabi into going to the park, even though both were more interested in staying in and working on their own projects. On top of that, Fred tagged along, too, though he was more interested in bringing a backpack full of comics instead of actual food. (It was Wasabi who saved the day – he had come prepared by bringing too many sandwiches.)

And so they had all went. Honey Lemon had been right, too. The day was beautiful, with the sun high up in the air and the skies clearer than Hiro had ever seen them on an autumn day. The grass seemed almost too green for it to be real – and the bright, multi-colored trees stood out like little splashes of paint against a canvas.

They had fun – Gogo took up throwing a Frisbee (or at least, a new and improved Frisbee that Gogo had designed herself) with Honey Lemon; Wasabi spent his time drawing out the trees, and Fred amused himself by reading aloud from his comics. Hiro, on the other hand, was only half-listening to Fred ramble on about the newest addition of Captain Zorg's adventures…and once he decided he couldn't take it anymore, Hiro had decided to excuse himself to go on a walk.

And now he was here.

Alone.

"Uh…okay," Hiro said aloud, squinting up at the autumn sun. It was hiding behind the thicket of the leaves that hadn't yet fallen – and the beams of light fell around him in an interrupted circle. From the looks of it, the sun hadn't set too far – although Hiro didn't want to think about what would happen if he was still here in the evening…

"I passed _that_ tree four times already," Hiro murmured, walking in front of a tall fir. "So I know that I've been going in circles." He craned his neck over his shoulder. There was no path to be found – no familiar signs or people or footsteps that could possibly lead him back in the right direction. At this, Hiro felt a slight chill run up his spine.

 _He was completely alone._

"Don't freak out, bonehead," Hiro muttered. "Number one mistake that people do when they get lost – they freak out. So keep it together." He ran his hands through his hair, frantically trying to think up a solution. He could try to look for the thinner parts of the forest, right? Thicker parts always meant more trees, and more trees meant Hiro would be going deeper into the forest…which he didn't want.

Only where _were_ the thinner parts of the forest?

Hiro looked back up. He turned in every direction, his eyes wildly searching for some sign – any sign, really –

"I don't see any difference," he grumbled, frustrated. He marched back to the fir, tapping his fingers against the rough bark. "There's _got_ to be some other way out…"

Hiro _could_ call his friends – but he didn't have his phone with him. He had left it next to the picnic basket – and even then, Hiro doubted that there could be any real signal with all of the trees around him.

Hiro _could_ try screaming for help and hope that there might be someone close enough to hear him…but honestly, the chances of that were too slim. He'd be better off making smoke signals. (And it wasn't like he could do that, either. He didn't really know how to make a fire, not to mention he was pretty sure he might accidentally cause a forest fire if he tried.)

"Think, think, think!" Hiro muttered to himself, pacing back and forth around the fir. "What are you missing? What could help you find your way around?" He sat down, pushing his hands up to his forehead. There had to be a way out – there had to be something that could get him back to his friends.

Hiro didn't understand it. The city was supposed to be the most confusing place in the world for people – people were supposed to get _lost_ in cities, not in a bunch of trees.

 _Only this had happened before._

xXx

 _Hiro was ten years old and a sophomore in high school when he got lost in the forest for the first time._

 _It was all his group's fault. The older boys made fun of him – picking on the way he looked, picking on his small voice, picking on his frantic and finicky behavior, picking on his height…_

 _Hiro Hamada was, to put it simply, born to be the runt of all of the high school jokes._

 _Ms. Rochester had told them all to stay together, too – that was the number one rule. "This forest is very big," she had told the class, "so make sure that no one in your group strays. Stay together, and stick to the map. If you get lost, don't panic and stay put. Call for help on your walkie-talkies if you can."_

 _It took about fifteen minutes for the boys in Hiro's group to leave Hiro behind._

 _Hiro bumped around the trees, his eyes filling up with frantic tears and his voice trembling as he yelled out, "Guys? Guys? This – this isn't funny anymore! Come on!" He hated how his voice squeaked – hated how he probably looked just as scared as he felt – but it couldn't be helped. He couldn't recognize any of the landmarks around him – he couldn't see where his group went, and the only things he could hear were the buzz of the insects around him and his own panicky breaths._

 _Fear clutched Hiro's heart as he wandered around the same space. He knew he was supposed to stay in place – maybe he could –_

 _"Walkie-talkie!" Hiro gasped, his hands fumbling for the little object on his belt. He had been complaining about it before – saying that it weighed down his pants (which earned him dozens of snickers and teases from the older boys) – but now, he had never been more grateful for it._

 _He flicked the thing on, feeling like crying in joy of the reassuring static sound that fizzed around him._

 _"Ms. Rochester," Hiro started to say, "it's me! Hiro Hamada! I'm lost – I don't know where I am – my group and I got separated." More like the group abandoned him, but Hiro wasn't ready to say that quite yet._

 _There was silence on the other end._

 _"Ms. Rochester?" Hiro repeated. "Hello? Are you there?"_

 _A minute later, Ms. Rochester's voice made its way through the static. "Hello?" she asked, bewildered. "Hello? Is there anyone there?"_

 _"Ms. Rochester! It's Hiro!"_

 _"Hello? Hello? Is this a joke?"_

 _Hiro sat back, stung. "Ms. Rochester?" he repeated, his voice barely above a squeak now. "Ms. Rochester, can you hear me? Hello?"_

 _"Hello? Hello, is there anyone else on the line?"_

 _Hiro felt his heart sink to his stomach. He could hear Ms. Rochester –_

 _But she couldn't hear him._

 _Hiro felt the hot prickle of tears well up in his eyes. He brushed them aside quickly before turning off the walkie-talkie. There was no point in screaming into the stupid thing now._

God _, he was lost. He was going to get stuck here forever, and no one would ever know._

 _What would happen to him? Maybe there were wild animals in these forests, even though Ms. Rochester had assured him that there weren't any in the beginning of the trip._

Well, she also said that the walkie-talkies would work _, Hiro thought glumly to himself, pulling his knees up to his chest._ But she was wrong about that.

 _Hiro brushed a hand at his eyes again. Tears were beginning to fall quickly now, dotting the knees of his pants and making his face burn. Hiro choked out a small sob, burying his face into his knees._

He was all alone.

xXx

He was all alone.

"Don't panic," Hiro repeated to himself, rubbing his hands over his eyes. "It's not dark yet – it's not even getting there yet – so there has to be some other way…" Even as he said those words, Hiro got the terrible feeling that he was just saying this to reassure himself so he could avoid the true facts. (True facts being that it was autumn, and in the autumn, the sun would set faster. Night would come quicker than Hiro would realize.)

"My friends will know that there's something wrong," Hiro said. "They'll know enough about me to call for help…or send out a search party…"

Someone would find him eventually, right?

 _Right?_

xXx

 _"Hiro!"_

 _Hiro's head jerked up from his knees. His throat was dry – his body was trembling (whether from fear or something else, Hiro couldn't tell) – his legs felt weak when he stood up._

 _"Hiro!" the voice came again, frantic and worried. "Hiro? It's Tadashi! Hiro! Answer me, please!"_

 _"'Dashi?" Hiro whispered. He scrambled forward, crying out, "Tadashi!"_

 _"Hiro! Hiro, where are you?"_

 _"I'm right here! I don't – I don't know where I am!"_

 _"Keep yelling! I can figure out where you are that way!"_

 _"Tadashi!"_

 _In less than a minute, Hiro saw Tadashi stumbling through the trees, his eyes wide and his shoes dirtied with mud. He looked tired – and unbelievably stressed (like he always did on the bad days) – but the minute his eyes landed on Hiro, Tadashi's face lit up._

 _"Hiro!" Tadashi sprinted forward, his arms opened wide._

 _Hiro practically threw himself into his older brother, wrapping his arms tightly around Tadashi's waist and tears streaming down his cheeks. "I got lost," Hiro whimpered, his voice slightly muffled by Tadashi's sweater. "I didn't know where my group went – they left me – and the walkie-talkie wouldn't work –"_

 _"I know," Tadashi replied, smoothing out Hiro's hair. "Ms. Rochester called Aunt Cass and me."_

 _"I thought I wouldn't be able to find my way home – I thought I –"_

 _"Hey," Tadashi crouched down in front of Hiro so that the two would be looking at each other eye-to-eye. The look on Tadashi's face was determined and fierce when he said, "I won't ever let you get lost, Hiro, okay? I'm always gonna find you when you're scared – so don't ever think you're too lost."_

 _Hiro sniffled, rubbing his eyes. "I don't wanna get lost anymore," he said quietly._

 _"And you won't," Tadashi promised, wrapping his arms around Hiro again. "Come on – I've got to talk to some of your classmates about."_

 _Hiro lifted his head. "No," he said quickly. "Don't do that."_

 _Tadashi pressed his lips together. "Hiro," he replied patiently, "these guys have been bothering you since you went into high school. It needs to stop."_

 _"But that's not gonna stop them," Hiro pointed out. "Just…teach me how to not get lost next time."_

 _Tadashi's face softened. "Okay, Hiro," he said softly. "First things first…"_

xXx

 _"Find a stream. Follow it – chances are, it'll probably lead outside the forest."_

Hiro looked around nervously. From his vantage point, he couldn't find any source of water – and highly doubted that he would anytime soon.

" _Make landmarks._ "

Hiro picked up a few pinecones lying on the ground. They weren't much, but he didn't have anything else that could substitute as actual markers. He only hoped that he'd remember where he put the pinecones.

" _And most of all, don't be scared. Even if you feel like it's the only way out – don't be scared."_

Hiro sucked in a deep breath. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to drink in his surroundings – and without another word, set off.

xXx

"Hiro!"

Hiro was tackled to the ground by his friends, all of them laughing and shouting in relief.

"We were going to send out a search party!" Wasabi was saying. "Just two minutes more, and we thought we needed to call for help!"

"Where _did you go?_ " Gogo asked incredulously, tugging Hiro up to his feet. Hiro brushed some grass off his shoulders, replying, "I got lost. I walked off the path."

"Did you find anything interesting?" Fred asked hopefully.

Hiro grinned. "Sorry, Fred," he answered. "Nothing."

"How did you find your way back to us?" Honey Lemon asked worriedly. "The forest is so big!"

Hiro cast a sidelong glance at the forest. "I had some help," he said simply.

* * *

 **A/N -** In case it wasn't clear, the italics were flashbacks.

Reviews would be great! Constructive criticism is alright, but flames are not!


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